The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM is the classic affordable fast fifty in the Canon EF mount. It sits above the nifty fifty 50mm f/1.8, and mine was a gift from my family over 10 years ago, back when my main camera was the Canon 5D Mark II.

It is not perfect wide open, and its focus mechanism is not the toughest, but it gives you a useful normal perspective, low-light flexibility, and a pleasing look for portraits, details, and everyday work.

Some people say it is way too soft at f/1.4, but for film photography, that is part of what I like about it. Realistically, I rarely shoot it wide open anyway. Stopped down a little, it becomes a much more controlled lens while still keeping that older Canon EF character.

The Good:

• f/1.4 aperture gives real low-light and shallow-depth-of-field value.

• 50mm is the most standard and familiar focal length.

• Small and light compared with modern fast primes.

• Good colour and classic Canon rendering.

• Affordable used-market option for EF film, DSLR, and adapted RF kits.

The Bad:

• Soft and dreamy wide open outside the centre.

• Focus mechanism is known to be more fragile than Canon’s stronger ring USM lenses.

• No image stabilization or weather sealing.

• Minimum focus is not especially close.

• Get it if you want a small, fast, affordable normal prime for an older DSLR or Canon autofocus film camera.

• Get it if you do not want the size or price of the 50mm f/1.2L.

• Get it if you like a softer classic look at f/1.4 and sharper results stopped down.

• Pass if you plan to use this as your main 50mm on RF bodies for commercial work.

• Pass if you want modern clinical sharpness wide open.

• Pass if you plan to use this lens for video.